Monday, August 16, 2010

Meat 'n Potatoes!

This dinner is from a couple of months ago, and I’ve been eager to share it with you, so here it is!

Our friends Henry and Jenn came over for dinner, and I know Henry loves his meat and potatoes and Jenn loves pretty much all food (like me!) so I decided to pick up some beef from McCall’s (yes, I realize I’m beginning to sound like their spokesperson but their meat/seafood is THE BEST!). I saw some Flintsones-sized bone-in rib eyes so I snatched those up, then went to the Farmer’s Market for some Yukon Gold potatoes and other veggies.

White on Rice Couple's Todd's amazing, incredible, life-altering Potatoes Au Gratin. I'm not overexaggreating. He and Diane were nice enough to invite my sister and me over for dinner a few months ago and they served this to us and let me tell you- it's CRACK! It only has six ingredients, but Todd's signature "break the crust" method keeps the potatoes tender and creamy while the top gets golden brown. We ate a pretty nice chunk out of it but still had some leftover; I'd take a spoon and eat it cold right out of the tupperware every day for the next four days. Not even kidding. It's THAT good. Who needs chocolate or other such silliness if you have this?! Check out his step-by-step instructions on the method here so you can make it this weekend. Heck, make it today. NOW.

Here are those two, fat rib eye steaks, seared to get a nice brown crust and cooked to medium rare. They were delicious and the four of us polished it all off, easily. I think personally, I prefer a cut where there aren't as many ribbons of fat- I know I know- it's the best part but I guess I'm more of a filet mignon, skirt or flank steak girl myself. It was indulgent and delicious regardless. I only wish I would have plated the dramatic steaks in a more, er, dramatic fashion. Should've used my giant cutting board, but we were all so hungry I think we just wanted to eat!

Plum and almond tart. My plum tree literally exploded with plums this summer so I had plums coming out of my...um, front yard. This was one of the last things I made; I think I'm good on plums for awhile now! We served it with caramel gelato.

A wonderful time was had by all and once again, McCall's didn't let me down with the high quality meat they sold me for this dinner. Another thing that's great about McCall's is the husband-wife team of Nathan McCall and Karen Yoo are happy to answer any questions you have about their product, recommend ways to cook or order something in advance if you have a special request. "Enthusiastic" wouldn't begin to describe how both come across about their business- you can see the commitment to quality, customer service and a joy and love for food/cooking in their faces. They rock!

Here's what our dinner table looked like just before we sat down to eat. I'll spare you the "after" photo!

4 comments:

i'm always game for a great au gratin recipe so i'll check out the one you've linked. love the presentation on the steak - a la Lugers. the brontosaurus cuts that Karen/Nate offer are great, and cutting them like that makes the portions manageable. looked great.